Archibald Hutcheson (ca. 1659 – 12 August 1740) was a British politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1713 to 1727. Hutcheson was the son of Archibald Hutcheson of

Stranocum Stranocum () is a small village and townland in north County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The villages of Dervock and Armoy are nearby and the town of Ballymoney is about away. It had a population of 311 people in the 2021 Census. (2011 Census: 29 ...

, Co. Antrim. He trained as a barrister and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1683. He was appointed

Attorney General of the Leeward Islands The attorney general of the Leeward Islands was the chief law officer of the Leeward Islands. The British crown colony of the Leeward Islands, comprising Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, and (t ...

(1688–1702) and in November, 1708 elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Career

Hutcheson was returned as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

at the 1713 general election and held the seat until

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

. He was also elected MP for

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

at the 1722 general election, but that election was declared void because he was at that time still the member for Hastings. Westminster was the

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

with the largest electorate before the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

(estimated by Namier and Brooke at about 12,000 voters later in the eighteenth century). Contested elections there were often hard-fought. He was an impassioned opponent of the repeal of the

Triennial Act The Triennial Act 1640 ( 16 Cha. 1. c. 1), also known as the Dissolution Act, was an act passed on 15 February 1641,South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

, producing numerous pamphlets on the company. In his old age he took part in the efforts of

Thomas Coram Sea captain, Captain Thomas Coram ( – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is ...

and others to establish a home for abandoned children in London. In 1739, the year before Hutcheson's death, a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

was granted by George II for a new charity which became known as the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

. The Charter listed Hutcheson as one of the founding governors.

Personal life

Hutcheson married four times, firstly in 1697 to Mary Smith, secondly in 1715 to Dame Mary, of Stepney, widow of Sir John Gayer of the East India Company, thirdly about 1727 to Rebecca Bankes and fourthly about 1730 to Elizabeth Stewart (née Lawrence), widow of Colonel Robert Stewart of Montserrat. From 1732 to his death in 1740, he had a London home at 2

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

. He died without living issue. Elizabeth, on Hutcheson's death, went at his wish, to join the household of

William Law William Law (16869 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, George I of Grea ...

King's Cliffe King's Cliffe (variously spelt Kings Cliffe, King's Cliff, Kings Cliff, Kingscliffe) is a village and civil parish on Willow Brook, a tributary of the River Nene, about northeast of Corby in North Northamptonshire. The parish adjoins the coun ...

, Northamptonshire, where she is buried in the parish churchyard.

References

*''The House of Commons 1754-1790'', by Sir

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were '' The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ame ...

and John Brooke (HMSO 1964) *''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) 1650s births 1740 deaths British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Fellows of the Royal Society Politicians from County Antrim {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub